


Fifty Shades of Red

by cinnamonandstrawberries



Category: 50 Shades of Grey - E. L. James, Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), Fifty Shades of Grey - All Media Types, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - 50 Shades Of Grey, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Sherlock (TV) Fusion, Crossover, F/F, Genderbending, Sherlock AU, Sherlock/Fifty Shades of Grey crossover, fifty shades of grey AU, sherlock crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2015-08-27
Packaged: 2018-04-17 11:47:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4665387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinnamonandstrawberries/pseuds/cinnamonandstrawberries
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story comes from a simple idea that came to me while curiously watching Fifty Shades of Grey. What if Christian Grey had been a woman, a dominatrix if you will. It's partially a Sherlock AU, partially a Fifty Shades of Grey AU, and an all over crossover.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fifty Shades of Red

**Author's Note:**

> This story has many elements of Fifty Shades of Grey, with elements of Sherlock integrated into it as well. It is set in an Alternate Universe of Sherlock, using Fifty Shades as a template. The first chapter is very similar to the beginning of Fifty Shades, but as the story progresses, it will stray away from it's timeline and canon, shifting more into Sherlock's canon and with added original story elements. All characters are AU versions canon Sherlock characters that are based on Fifty Shades canon characters. For example, the roommate in this story is no longer Kate Kavanagh, but an AU version of Mary Morstan. The character of Anastasia is replaced by Kate from Sherlock, as is Christian by Irene. With that, one will notice that the characters in this story are not copies-- They have personalities that both reflect on their Fifty Shades counterparts as well as their Sherlock counterparts, making Irene Grey have a different personality from Irene Adler and a different personality from Christian Grey, but remotely similar. It's an odd concept, yes, but I hope that it will be taken well with an open mind. All characters respectfully belong to the Fifty Shades of Grey and Sherlock franchises.

Prologue

_I put a spell on you._

London, a marvelous city. Shining towers, lights, music. 

_Because you're mine._

A woman dresses as, if not more, sharply and finely as such a city. After a few rounds of boxing, she showers, warm water soothing and massaging her skin, her black hair slicked smoothly as water caresses it. Once she's dried off, she begins slipping into a white dress, which forms along her figure flawlessly. 

_I love you, I love you._

Another woman. Red hair, blue eyes that are just as sharp as the other's. She walks into the common English weather; heavy rain coming down like stair-rods. She carries an umbrella tightly, her hair is mussed, and once she gets home, the most she does to fix it is brushing and putting it up. 

_I'm yours right now. ___

__"Kate, take my car." Her flatmate had spoken up, glancing from the sofa that she had made into her sick bed. She asked annoying questions, like "Do you have the questions?" "Are you really wearing that?"_ _

__Kate thought what she was wearing was fine. It was a powder blue jumper with a floral print. She thought it brought out her eyes._ _

__"Maybe less talking, more eating." Kate bit back with a huff before leaving._ _

__Driving to London was practically insane. Luckily it wasn't raining, but it was cloudy and the air was cold and gray. Her tiny little car seemed out of place when she pulled up to 'Grey House' as the building was called. What was she doing here? Obviously, she knew what she was doing here, but she had the feeling that she shouldn't be here._ _

"May I take your coat?" 

When she was asked that, Kate almost considering making a joke; 'Will I get it back'? She decided that it would be redundant and better left unsaid. 

"Ms. Grey will see you now."

Hearing those words-- why was it so frightening? Irene Grey was such an icon. Beautiful, no, gorgeous, stunning in every way. Powerful, wealthy, immaculate. And then this little redhead was supposed to interview her. Sure, she had some spirit in her, but she lacked the confidence that her flatmate had. She shouldn't have said yes to this, Kate told herself, but it was too late now. "Right this way," The blonde woman continued. She was led to an office, the woman's heels softly clicking against a white floor in front of her. Kate's flats followed along quickly.

Maybe too quickly. She burst into the office and these damn slippery floors would be in her nightmares. Her foot slipped and she rammed into the door but ended up falling on her front. Fucking shit. Kate huffed quietly and looked up at the woman who stood before her, above her. Irene Grey. 

"Are you alright?" The woman raised a brow, obviously confused, her red lips parting with concern. She offered a manicured hand, only leaning over slightly. Kate gratefully took it and pulled herself up, trying not to slip again. These floors were so damn shiny and slick that she could almost see her reflection in them. Had the floors been waxed today or something? "Irene Grey." the brunette introduced herself. 

"Kate." she muttered before straightening herself. She cleared her throat and took in a breath. "Kate Steele. My flatmate's sick and so she asked me to cover for her."

Irene's gaze seemed to heighten and she quirked her features. "Do you study journalism too?" she asked in a tone that gave off suspicion. 

"Um..no. English literature." Kate answered bluntly.

With that, Irene turned on her heel and walked to her desk. "Well, I only have ten minutes. Take a seat, Ms. Steele." 

"Yeah, yeah, okay." she spoke, walking over to the white chair across her desk. "You can call me Kate." The redhead turned on her recorder and stumbled through her question page. Irene stared impatiently as she walked over to Kate. 

"Ready?" Kate asked. 

"Obviously, yes." The woman's tone was one of slight agitation, but it wasn't entirely rude. 

"Right um... to what do you--"

"To what do I owe my success? Seriously?" Annoyance and amusement at the same time, those red lips curving into a smirk that was aggressive. 

"Yep." Kate muttered quietly. This woman was scary, she thought to herself, not daring to say it aloud.

"Business is about people. I've always been good at people. Knowing what they like, what motivates them, inspires them and how to use such information to get the desired results." Irene began, speaking as if she were a cunning diplomat. She sort of was, Kate realized. But she interrupted, as Irene interrupted her earlier.

"Maybe you're just lucky." 

The small little chuckle that escaped Irene seemed to cause a knot to form in Kate's chest, making her regret the comment. 

"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. The key to my success has been my skills with people, using their strengths and weaknesses and harnessing them." Irene explained, and yet found herself interrupted again. 

"So, you're a control freak?" A tiny scoff released from Kate, though she remained a neutral, polite expression. Irene only seemed to find further amusement in this statement. 

"Oh, Ms. Steele, I exercise control in all things." Her voice was confident and sure, sharp as a blade. Her eyes were just as cutting.

"Um... Kate. It's just Kate." she murmured with only a fifth of her confidence. The words barely escaped her lips, only softly.

"Please continue, Ms. Steele." 

Kate took in a deep breath again, not daring to correct her again and she continued her questioning. "Um.. okay. The um... all of the donations you've made to charity, like the ones in Africa, is that something you feel passionate about?"

"It's smart business." Irene answered with a shrug so elegant that she made the motion look graceful. Nevertheless, her answer shocked Kate. Her face froze and she was speechless for a moment. It was only business? Surely no one could be that heartless. "You don't agree?" 

"I uh..." Don't, Kate. Keep it to your damn self. "I guess I don't know enough about it." No. No, stop. "I just wonder if your heart is a bit.. y'know, bigger than you let on." Now you've done it.

Irene seemed genuinely surprised by Kate's answer. She gazed at her in silence for a moment, before calmly answering. "There are some people who say that I don't have a heart at all."

Kate cleared her throat, staring hard at Irene. "Why would they say that?" 

"Because they know me well." Her perfect red lips spoke these words with absolute sincerity. Kate was stunned. She didn't know how to respond to that. They sat in silence for another moment until the redhead mustered up the confidence to speak again.

"Um.. do you have any interests outside of work?" These questions were boring, all of them. Cliched, overused, common. But this wasn't her interview, she was just following someone else's script. Typical pushover Kate, her mind bitterly thought.

"I enjoy various physical pursuits." Irene spoke simply, not going into detail of what that entailed. 

"You're not married," Kate continued. "You were... adopted at age four." Kate looked up at Irene again with surprise, eyes widening. They further widened at Irene's reaction. 

"That's a matter of public record." she spoke, her voice cutting and yet soft as velvet. "Do you have an actual question, Ms. Steele?"

"Yeah.. sorry. Are you gay?" She had spoken it without thinking about it and her eyes immediately went back to the paper, in shock with herself for asking such a question. Irene smirked in response, watching her quietly. Kate chuckled a little. "It's... it's written here. I just..."

"I don't think that's anyone's business, do you?" Her voice was so rich and smooth. Eyes enchanting. Soothing. Intimidating. How she could be both at once was beyond Kate's understanding but she didn't exactly hate it. 

"No.. no, I completely agree. Your private life is yours." she assured. "Mary can be a bit--"

"Intrusive?" Irene asked with that little smirk. 

"Curious." Kate shrugged and unfortunately it wasn't nearly as graceful as when Irene did it. 

"What about you?" Irene spoke suddenly. It was incredulous. "Ask me something you want to know." She sat down in a chair on the right of her, waiting for Kate to respond.

She had to think. There were so many things, honestly. Not all of them were polite. Several things she thought were thoughts that could never be said aloud.

"Earlier you said that some people know you really well. Something makes me think that's not actually true." she spoke and she couldn't help but literally bite her tongue at that. Take it back, take it back. But she couldn't. She had already spoken the words and Irene was already responding to them. Or at least, she began to, until someone walked in. 

"Ms. Grey, your appointment--"

"Cancel it." she spoke with certainty. "We're not finished yet." 

"Very well, ma'am." And the blonde stepped out again. 

"No, no, you don't have to cancel your appointment, I... I can go, y'know--"

"I'd like to know more about you." Irene cut her off. She crossed one leg over the other as she leaned back in her chair, her Louboutin heel-clad foot dipping downwards in a subtle motion. 

Crap. 

Kate did her best to not stumble over her words and panic, but she ended up being able to say a few words. "There's really not much to know about me."

"You said you're an English major. Tell me.. who was it who made you fall in love with literature?" Irene smiled then. It wasn't one of sarcasm and ice. 

"Hardy. Definitely Hardy." Kate answered, almost choking. 

"Hm. I would've guessed Jane Austen." Irene's brow delicately quirked. Having nothing to say to that, Kate merely smiled and remained silent, except for the awkward click of her tongue. "What are your plans after you graduate?" The brunette asked next. 

"Um... I don't know really. Just trying to live, I suppose. I'm probably going to move to London with Mary."

"Hm." Irene gazed at her almost as if she were prey. "We offer an excellent internship program."

Kate had to laugh at the idea. It was soft, trying to not burst into laughter. "Uh... yeah, I don't think I'd fit in here. Everyone's so... yeah." She took in a deep breath. Classy, snobby, elegant, gorgeous, like supermodel gorgeous, which she was obviously not. She was just a short, awkward redhead who walked like a baby deer when wearing high heels. "Yeah. I mean, look at me." Kate laughed again. 

With all seriousness she spoke, Irene's red lips curved into another diminutive smile. "I am." 

What? What was this? Startled like the baby deer, she stared at Irene without words. Probably finding it amusing, the brunette softly chuckled. "Call me Irene." 

\--

She assisted Kate to the elevator, grinning. "Well, Ms. Steele. I hope you find everything you're looking for." she murmured. 

"Um.. yeah, thanks." Kate spoke quietly, looking up at Irene with a shy demeanor. 

"By the way, I am in need of a personal assistant. Someone intelligent. Clever. If you're interested, you have my card." Irene told her. 

Stunned by the offer, Kate's eyes widened. 

"Yeah.. yeah, sure, I'll... yeah." What the fuck was that? Words, Kate. You know how to use them. "I'll consider it." 

"Excellent." Irene smirked. 

Kate stepped into the elevator, heart racing. She felt tense and excited and uncomfortable. Hopefully when she got out of this building, she could feel at ease again. 

"Kate." the brunette spoke in a soft goodbye. 

"...Irene." Kate reciprocated as the elevator doors closed.

\--

"She was... elegant." Kate was telling her flatmate, taking deep, deep breaths. "Very formal... clean." 

"Clean?" Mary asked, confused.

"She was very... y'know, smart. Intelligent. And kinda intimidating. Okay, really intimidating."

As Kate went on, Mary had formed a grin, her arms were folded, and she stared at her flatmate with a spark of interest. 

"I...I can understand the fascination."

"Huh." Mary's grin grew wider.

Kate shot her a look as she glanced up at Mary's face. 

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she accused. 

"Like what?" Mary was acting innocent. What could she possibly be thinking?

Kate rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm gonna make a sandwich, you want one?"

"No thanks." Mary called to her as Kate stood up, the blonde flatmate giggling to herself. 

"I mean think about it... if I was a man, I'd shag her. Surely you can admit that." Mary went on. 

Kate tried to not roll her eyes again as she coughed uncomfortably. She couldn't exactly admit that she did find Irene Grey to be rather... attractive. "Yeah, I mean, if you're the type of sort who... is attracted to that kind of human." Kate coughed again as she put away the bread.

"The hot type of human?" Mary chuckled. 

"Well, I asked her if she was gay." the redhead scoffed. "That was in your questions, why would you do that, huh?" Kate smirked with a pinpointed glare.

"Well, because she's never had any public relationships with a man. Either she's very secretive, a loner, or gay." Mary summarized. 

"Hey, you know, it's normal for people to want to keep their private lives private, Mary." Kate huffed as her butterknife slathered jam onto the bread. 

"And now you're defending her."

Oh, the audacity of this woman. 

"I'm ending this conversation." Kate placed a slice of bread firmly on the other and aggressively took a bite.

"Too bad we don't have some original stills of your hot, clean, 30 year old girl-crush billionaire." Mary mocked playfully as she brought her laptop to the kitchen, joining Kate. 

\--

The next day, her studies were on and yet her brain was off somewhere else. Last night, Mary had left her laptop open, and on the laptop were lots of photos of Irene Grey. Other tabs had research as well. She stayed up all night looking at it and now her brain was still turned on the Irene Grey switch. Kate couldn't focus. To make it worse, she still had the pencil Irene had given her, along with the woman's card. She held one in her hand, writing with it, or trying to, while trying not to think about the other object Irene had given her. Becoming a personal assistant was not something she ever saw herself doing. And yet somehow, Kate was feeling such a needy desire for it now.

\--

"Mum, I'm at work." Kate muttered into the cell phone speaker, trying to stay outta the line of sight of her boss. If he saw her talking on the phone, he would dock her pay or worse, fire her.

"No, no, I called for a reason." Her mother insisted eagerly. "Bob broke his foot playing golf." 

It took every ounce of care she had left to not tell her mother; 'and that matters to me why?'

"Is he okay? Is he in a lot of pain?" she asked, trying to care. It was difficult to care about the man who constantly was the reason her mum wasn't there for her. Why they didn't even live in the same country anymore.

"Who can tell anymore with the man, he calls the paramedics for a blister." 

Kate chuckled. What a fanny that man was.

"That means we won't be able to fly in to go to your graduation." 

Her face fell. Was she serious? She had missed Christmas, her birthday, New Years and now this too? 

"Really? I mean, you could come alone, y'know. You don't have to bring Bob." Kate argued.

"And leave Tiger Woods to fend for himself? Come on, you understand, don't you?" the voice spoke over the phone and it enraged her, but she remained calm.

"Yeah, it's fine." she lied. "I really have to go now, okay?"

"I love you, Kate."

"Yeah, I know, love ya too." And she hung up the phone. Taking in a deep breath, she tried getting back into work mode. However, that attempt was deflected when she heard a voice.

"Kate?"

Shocked, she looked up, recognizing the voice. Irene Grey? What in the world was this woman doing at a hardware store? She looked like the type that had.. _people_ for that.

"What a pleasant surprise, Ms. Steele." she spoke. Kate cleared her throat again, trying to recover.

"Yeah, the Kate you used earlier is fine. You... you're in here." 

"I was just coming here to pick up a few things." Irene smiled softly. "Are you free?"

Damn it, what was it about this woman that made her lose her breath? 

"Yeah, yeah. What do you need?" she spoke, almost sucking in air.

"Do you have cable ties?" Irene questioned, glancing around.

"Yep. Mm hm. I can show you if you want."

"Please lead the way, Ms. Steele."

"Just..." Kate wanted to just give up. She didn't know what possessed her to keep at it. "Just Kate." And she began walking towards another section of the store. However, the item list kept getting weird. After showing her the cable ties, she asked for masking tape. Then rope. What redecorating was this woman doing?

"Okay. There ya go. Cable ties, tape, rope, you're the perfect serial killer." she quipped, managing a grin.

Irene's smirk was wider. "Not today."

What the hell? "Um.. anything else?" Kate asked her.

"Is there anything you would recommend? I'm not very experienced with this type of thing." Irene murmured. 

"Oh, um... perhaps coveralls, so that you don't get any paint or... whatever you're using on your clothes." 

The brunette shrugged. "I could just take my clothes off." 

Kate almost choked again. "Okay then. No clothes. I-I mean no coveralls. Can't think of anything else, sorry."

"Well, I guess that's it then." Irene chuckled.

When they walked up to the register, Irene began asking her about Mary, how she was feeling and how she liked the answers that were given. "Yeah, she's doing great, she loved the answers. Only thing is, she's struggling to find the "right" image of you, whatever that is." Kate shrugged again. 

"Really? I could do a photoshoot for her, have her get the photo she wants." she suggested. 

"Holy crap, really?" Kate asked with wide eyes. Realizing, she coughed again and shook her head. "I mean, yeah, she'd probably like that." She didn't mean to express that much excitement at the idea of seeing a live photoshoot of a gorgeous beauty like Irene. What was going on with her head? 

"Call me before 10." Irene murmured. "About the photos." 

Kate nodded quickly. "Sure thing. Thanks."

\--

The photoshoot was a success, each picture of Irene being lovely and elegant. But so icy as always. The photographer asked her to smile and she didn't. She kept the cool composure, her flawless features having a cold stare. "The pictures look really good." Kate told her, nodding her head as they walked outside. "Yeah, really good." They went to a coffee shop down the street, only a block away so it wasn't a far walk. Though she couldn't imagine how those high heels weren't hurting Irene's feet. They had to be hurting; they were stilettos. 

Irene had told her that she just wanted to chat over coffee. Kate had obliged. Now they were sitting with their coffee in awkward silence. The redhead sipped at hers.

"You seem nervous." Irene noted.

"I find you intimidating." Kate admitted. 

"You should."

Irene's composure was immaculate, her form pure and elegant as a white lioness, rare and unheard of but absolutely stunning and vicious. She placed a muffin in front of Kate that she had bought for her. "Eat."

"Not to mention high handed." Kate retorted.

"I'm used to getting my own way." she spoke simply. She leaned back in her seat and sipped at her own coffee.

"Must get boring." Kate muttered. Irene raised a brow, temporarily silent.

"Tell me about your family." she eventually said. 

"My family?" she asked, confused. What was this, a date? Oddly enough, it wasn't a bad thought. "My family. My dad is dead. My mum is on Husband #4, an incurable romantic apparently." Kate smirked.

"And you?"

"Am I a romantic?" she asked, eyes wide. Irene nodded her head. Kate shrugged again. "Well, I study English lit., don't I? I sort of have to be. But anyway, the photoshoot went well, right? I mean, Mary was--"

"I can't." Irene suddenly murmured, tone soft as usual. "I'm sorry, let me walk you out."

"Wait, what?" she huffed. But Irene was already walking outside. 

"What, is suddenly being a romantic bad for being a personal assistant or something? Afraid I'll have a relationship while I'm making your appointments? What is it?" Kate argued, somewhat defensive now. She didn't understand. Not paying attention, she bludgeoned into the street, almost getting hit by a bike, but Irene quickly pulled on her arm and back onto the pavement. 

"Watch it!" Irene exclaimed, raising her voice. It startled Kate. She stared up at the woman, speechless. To make it even more shocking, Irene softened again, and hardened, her features gazing coolly at Kate's face. She brought a hand to gently press against her cheek, caressing it. Surprisingly, and impulsively, Kate couldn't help but lean into her hand. Why did this feel so nice? So inviting? She was straight. Irene was... _maybe_ straight. Or was she?

"You should steer clear of me." Irene suddenly spoke, causing Kate to snap out of it. As Irene said this, her hand was still pressed to the redhead's face for a moment longer. "I have to let you go."

Let me go? Her mind was going crazy. Since when did Irene have her? Taking in a breath, feeling like she hadn't breathed in five minutes, Kate nodded. "Goodbye, Ms. Grey." she muttered and pulled away from her. She cleared her throat and stared hard at the ground, walking fast across the street.

**Author's Note:**

> My intention of this fic is to both shed light on an idea that I haven't seen at all on the internet, which is the idea of a female Christian Grey, as well as extending the knowledge and ideas of the relationship between Irene and Kate, one of which is only hinted at in A Scandal in Belgravia and perhaps kept secret, very similar to Christian and Anastasia's relationship, being referred to as 'friends' in the newspaper. per and Christian constantly telling Anastasia that he does not want a romantic relationship with her. To those who are extensively familiar with the Doctor Who franchise will know of Madame Vastra and Jenny. A married couple, but Jenny poses as Vastra's maid to the public, just as Anastasia poses as Christian's friend, just as Kate poses as Irene's assistant. To me, these storylines and characters blend together very smoothly, adding a new element to each of them. With that in mind, I hope you enjoy this story and if you have input for which elements of either fandom should be incorporated, I am certainly willing to consider it.


End file.
